New York Attorney General Letitia James is backing federal intervention in a case she says exposes “profoundly disturbing” discrimination against Orthodox Jews in the Town of Forestburgh, NY — a small Hudson Valley municipality now at the center of an explosive civil rights battle. In a letter sent Monday to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Attorney General James threw her support behind federal involvement in Lost Lake Holdings, LLC v. Town of Forestburgh, a lawsuit alleging that town officials deliberately weaponized zoning laws and administrative red tape to block a major housing development intended for Chasidic Jewish families. “The assertion that the Town of Forestburgh denied land use applications based on the religious identity of the developers and the potential use of the property by Orthodox Jewish residents is profoundly disturbing,” James wrote, urging prosecutors to enforce the Fair Housing Act and other federal anti-discrimination statutes. The letter follows a March filing by the U.S. Department of Justice, which issued a scathing Statement of Interest in support of the developers, arguing that the town’s actions amount to systemic religious discrimination. DOJ attorneys allege that Forestburgh officials—motivated by anti-Semitic bias—reopened a 14-year-old environmental review, imposed inflated tax assessments, and repeatedly denied building permits in a coordinated effort to sabotage a 2,627-home project by Lost Lake Holdings. Internal emails cited by the DOJ reveal the chilling extent of the town’s animus. In one, a planning board chair urged colleagues, “Don’t be scared about the Hasidic threat—we’re energized and have the cash to fight and make their lives miserable.” Another widely circulated email called Orthodox Jews a “sect notorious for misogyny and child abuse,” warning of their community’s alleged “destruction” of Forestburgh. Attorney General James has previously demanded that Forestburgh revise Local Law 3, which imposes what her office described as discriminatory zoning restrictions specifically targeting houses of worship and Orthodox Jewish residents. Agudath Israel of America has also been active in challenging the town’s conduct. Representatives including Rabbis Avi Schnall, Yeruchim Silber, and Shragi Greenbaum, along with klal askan Chaskel Bennett and the Sullivan County JCC, have all spoken out before the town board — only to be ignored. The lawsuit alleges millions in lost revenue and reputational damage for Lost Lake Holdings, while raising urgent concerns about the weaponization of local government against minority faith groups. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A teenager who admitted being “addicted to speed” behind the wheel had totaled two other cars in the year before he slammed into a minivan at 112 mph (180 kph) in a Seattle suburb, killing the driver and three of the five children she was transporting for a homeschool co-op. After sentencing Chase Daniel Jones last month to more than 17 years in prison, the judge tacked on a novel condition should he drive again: His vehicle must be equipped with a device that prevents accelerating far beyond the speed limit. Virginia this year became the first state to give its judges such a tool to deal with the most dangerous drivers on the road. Washington, D.C., already is using it and similar measures await governors’ signatures in Washington state and Georgia. New York and California also could soon tap the GPS-based technology to help combat a recent national spike in traffic deaths. “It’s a horror no one should have to experience,” said Amy Cohen, who founded the victims’ advocacy group Families for Safe Streets after her 12-year-old son, Sammy Cohen Eckstein, was killed by a speeding driver in front of their New York home more than a decade ago. Turning tragedy into activism Andrea Hudson, 38, the minivan driver who was killed when Jones ran a red light, was building a backyard greenhouse with her husband to help educate several kids who shuttle between homes during the school day, her father, Ted Smith, said. Also killed in the March 2024 crash near Hudson’s home in Renton, Washington, were Boyd “Buster” Brown and Eloise Wilcoxson, both 12, and Matilda Wilcoxson, 13. Hudson’s two children were sitting on the passenger side and survived, but they spent weeks in a hospital. “You always hear of these horrific accidents, and it’s always far away, you don’t know anybody. But all of a sudden, that’s my daughter,” Smith said. “This guy did not swerve or brake. And it was just a missile.” Smith knew Washington state Rep. Mari Leavitt, who reached out to offer condolences and tell him she was sponsoring legislation to mandate intelligent speed assistance devices as a condition for habitual speeders to get back their suspended licenses. Leavitt predicts it will have an even more powerful impact than revoking driving privileges, citing studies showing around three-quarters of people who lose their licenses get behind a wheel anyway. Between 2019 and 2024, the state saw a 200% increase in drivers cited for going at least 50 mph (80 kph) over the speed limit, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. “I guess I don’t understand why someone is compelled to want to drive that fast,” Leavitt said. “But if they choose to drive that fast with the speed limiter, they can’t. It’s going to stop them in their tracks.” The measure, which Washington legislators passed last month and Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson is expected to soon sign, is called the BEAM Act, using the first letters of the names of the four victims: Buster, Eloise, Andrea and Matilda. Because Jones, 19, didn’t receive a speeding ticket in his two previous crashes, he likely wouldn’t have been required to use the speed-limiter ahead of the fatal one. And because it could be 2029 before the law takes effect, the judge’s requirement at sentencing only applies to his time on probation after being released from […]
At a gathering of his political faction, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir outlined a new approach to the issue of humanitarian aid for Gaza.
“The only aid that should enter Gaza is to allow them voluntary emigration. As long as we have hostages languishing in tunnels, I don’t understand why we are even discussing this,” said Ben-Gvir.
He emphasized that no form of humanitarian relief should be granted by any means. “Aid should not be allowed through humanitarian organizations, private organizations, or assistance through the IDF. As long as there are hostages, the enemy should not receive food, electricity, or any other assistance.”
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Matzav.com Israel}
Democrats gear up for more visits to El Salvador and even Honduras to visit deported criminal aliens.
TOM HOMAN: on the Trump admin urging illegals to self-deport: “It’s now being pushed out in multimedia settings — that you can leave on your own… Or we’ll come find you and we can remove you based on our schedule and our standards.”
The Israeli Air Force has released images of fighter jets fueling up for the airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen, with 20 fighter jets dropping 50 munitions on Hodeidah port and a concrete factory near Bajil, supported by refuelers and spy planes.
Starting tonight, IDF forces will commence demolishing 106 terrorist structures in Tulkarm’s terror camps.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu released a video message on Monday in which he tackled two key issues: the push for a formal inquiry into the October 7 failures and the security cabinet’s resolution to escalate military operations.
Speaking about the military campaign, Netanyahu explained that the cabinet’s move to ramp up the war effort came at the urging of IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. “We decided on intensified action in Gaza,” Netanyahu said. “That was the chief of staff’s recommendation—to move, as he said, toward the defeat of Hamas. He believes this will also help us rescue the hostages. I agree with him. We are not letting up on this effort and will not give up on anyone.”
Turning to calls for an official investigation into what went wrong on October 7, Netanyahu expressed openness but stressed that the timing must be right. “We need to do this, but after the war ends,” he said.
He emphasized that the focus must remain on the upcoming offensive in Gaza, which is being carried out following recommendations from top military leaders. “We are on the eve of a major operation in Gaza, as recommended by the General Staff. Afterward, we will examine this, and we need to investigate the political echelon from the prime minister down. I demand this. For this to work, it needs to be a committee accepted by the entire public, a special state investigation committee that reflects different opinions,” Netanyahu said.
{Matzav.com Israel}
Central Berlin was in ruins after the Red Army completed the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in an intense fight for the capital in May 1945. After decades of division and its revival as the capital of a reunited, democratic Germany, the city is now transformed, blending painstakingly restored buildings with modern architecture. But the scars of the past remain visible in many places: facades riddled with holes from bullets and shrapnel, or gaps in rows of houses sometimes plugged by new buildings. An Associated Press story from May 9, 1945, painted a stark picture. It read: “This town is a city of the dead. As a metropolis it has simply ceased to exist. Every house within miles of the center seems to have had its own bomb.” Berlin, the epicenter of Adolf Hitler’s power, was the ultimate prize as the Allies closed in from east and west on the disintegrating German defenses in the final stage of World War II. “We all had a little case next to the bed, even the children,” recalled Eva-Maria Kolb, now 89, of the constant aerial bombing in the last six months of the war. “When there was an air raid warning you had to pull something on quickly and then go down to the basement.” The final Battle of Berlin in late April and early May 1945 reduced much of what was left of the city to rubble. The Soviet military attacked from several directions with an enormous concentration of troops, who faced a struggle to cross rivers and canals and an intensifying street fight as they moved deeper and deeper into the city. On April 25, Berlin was encircled. Hitler killed himself in his bunker on April 30; and on May 2, the commander of German military forces in Berlin, Gen. Helmuth Weidling, capitulated to Soviet forces. “Berlin was a heap of rubble — because of these last 10 days, almost everything in the center was ruined,” said Jörg Morré, the director of the Museum Berlin-Karlshorst, located in the building where Germany’s final surrender was signed. But “the infrastructure could be repaired relatively quickly — the sewerage system wasn’t so badly damaged. They managed to get the water supply and pipes going again. A lot of old Berliners are still familiar with hand pumps … electricity came, so that the trams starting running again, and the commuter trains.” Kolb said: “It was, of course, a great relief in ‘45 that the war was over and Hitler was no longer alive … everyone who wasn’t a Nazi was very, very grateful that the war was over.” She recalled that parts of the city were rubble, but she went to a school in the Tempelhof district, south of the center, “that was only half-ruined. It no longer had a roof and the second or third floor was missing — but we had lessons. Only when it rained were lessons canceled.” ‘This marked the end’ Post-war Berlin was divided into sectors controlled by the wartime allies. That hardened into a Cold War division that saw two separate German states founded in 1949 and ultimately led to the building in 1961 of the Berlin Wall, which fell 28 years later as communist rule collapsed in East Germany. Germany was reunited in 1990 and the national government moved to Berlin in 1999. Parliament […]
Israeli fighter jets are conducting aerial strikes over Yemen Monday night, following a missile attack the previous day in which a projectile fired by the Houthi militia targeted Ben Gurion Airport. An Israeli source has confirmed the airstrikes are underway.
The operation is focused on dismantling Houthi assets and military infrastructure. The Houthis are widely seen as an extension of Iranian influence in the region. According to a report by Al-Arabiya, over 30 Israeli warplanes are taking part in the mission.
The Houthis have issued a statement alleging that the offensive is being jointly carried out by Israeli and American forces in the port city of Hodeidah.
Sunday afternoon’s attack involved a ballistic missile launched from Yemen that traveled a significant distance before landing near Israel’s main international airport.
The impact site was close to a runway at Ben Gurion Airport, striking an unpopulated area but injuring six individuals. The incident led to flight disruptions, with some airlines choosing to cancel incoming and outgoing routes temporarily.
{Matzav.com Israel}
A 90-second radar and communications blackout at the air traffic control center overseeing Newark Liberty International Airport has sent shockwaves through the nation’s air travel system, and the fallout is still being felt. The April 28 failure, caused by nothing more than a burnt piece of copper wire, left air traffic controllers effectively blind and deaf, unable to see or communicate with aircraft under their supervision. According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the incident was so traumatic that several controllers at the Philadelphia-based TRACON facility responsible for Newark were forced to take trauma leave under the Federal Employees Compensation Act. “For a full minute and a half, they had no radar, no communication — no way to guide planes in one of the busiest air corridors in the country,” a source familiar with the incident told the New York Post. “It was chaos.” The system failure and its psychological toll on FAA workers have triggered a cascade of delays and cancellations at Newark — the second-busiest airport in the New York area. Since Friday, the airport has seen more than 400 canceled flights and nearly 2,000 delays. United Airlines, which operates roughly 75% of flights at Newark, has slashed 35 daily roundtrips, blaming chronic understaffing and the failure that pushed 20% of the area’s air traffic controllers to “walk off the job.” NATCA disputed that claim, saying controllers took federally protected trauma leave but did not stage a walkout. At a press conference Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded an Inspector General investigation into what he called a “travel nightmare” at an airport that handled nearly 50 million passengers last year. “The technology is old and must be updated,” Schumer said. “One of the things that happened at Newark is a copper wire burnt. Why are we using copper wire in 2025? Have they heard of fiber?” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy echoed the criticism, acknowledging that “we use floppy disks. We use copper wires. The system we’re using is not effective to control the traffic we have in the airspace today.” United CEO Scott Kirby, in a letter to customers, described the Philadelphia TRACON as “chronically understaffed for years,” and pointed to the outdated infrastructure and understaffing as the core causes of the cascading delays. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
POTUS: “We’re going to help the people of Gaza get some food. People are starving and we’re going to help them get some food… Hamas is making it impossible because they’re taking everything that’s brought in.”
Air travel disruptions at Newark Liberty International Airport dragged on into Monday, capping a weekend plagued by hundreds of delayed and canceled flights. The ongoing turmoil has prompted Senator Chuck Schumer to demand a thorough probe into the causes of the widespread travel meltdown.
By Monday morning, FlightAware data showed that approximately 200 flights were delayed and over 130 were canceled. The FAA attributed many of the issues to both staffing shortages and weather conditions, noting that incoming flights were facing delays of up to four hours, while departures were averaging an hour of lag time. Sunday’s numbers were even worse, with more than 430 delays and 140 cancellations.
Schumer insisted that the situation demands far more scrutiny than it’s currently receiving, urging authorities to dig deep to prevent a continued breakdown of operations.
“To say that there is just minor turbulence at Newark Airport and the FAA, that would be the understatement of the year. We’re here because the FAA is really a mess. This mess needs a real forensic look, a deep look into it,” Schumer said during a Monday press conference.
The root of the airport’s crisis appears to be multifaceted. A persistent shortage of air traffic controllers has left key positions unfilled. A runway closure for major repairs is expected to last through at least June. Compounding the crisis, critical FAA technology used to direct air traffic has reportedly malfunctioned.
Passengers have voiced frustration with lengthy delays, some being forced to remain on grounded planes for hours or held in airspace circles, waiting for clearance to land.
Authorities have begun expressing doubt over the airport’s capacity to manage the current volume of flights under these strained conditions.
United Airlines has already responded by slashing 35 flights from its daily Newark schedule. The airline criticized the FAA for what it called a longstanding failure to address air traffic control problems that have worsened over time.
United’s CEO, Scott Kirby, pointed to repeated failures of the airport’s plane-tracking systems in recent days. These outages led to widespread delays and cancellations, further intensified when a significant portion of the air traffic control workforce abruptly left their posts.
“This particular air traffic control facility has been chronically understaffed for years and without these controllers, it’s now clear — and the FAA tells us — that Newark airport cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead,” Kirby said in a message to customers on Friday.
{Matzav.com}
President Trump stated that Ukraine and Russia are ready for a ceasefire. However, ongoing U.S. military aid to Ukraine and continued strikes between the nations cast doubt on the likelihood of an imminent deal.
Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Air Force operations room in the Kirya, during the massive airstrikes against targets of the Houthi terror regime in Yemen.
The IRS has lost more than 3,600 – or 31% – of its tax auditors from buyouts and layoffs tied to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Four boats capsized in a sudden storm at a tourist spot in southwestern China, killing 10 people, state media said Monday. More than 80 people fell into a river when strong winds hit the scenic area in Guizhou province late Sunday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV said. The boats capsized after a sudden rain and hail storm on the upper reaches of the Wu River, a tributary of the Yangtze, China’s longest river. In one video shared by state media, a man could be seen performing CPR on another person, while one of the vessels drifted upside down. Initial reports said two tourist boats had capsized, but state media said on Monday that four boats were involved. The other two boats had no passengers, and the seven crew members were able to save themselves, CCTV said. Guizhou’s mountains and rivers are a major tourism draw, and many Chinese were traveling during a five-day national holiday that ended Monday. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to find the missing and care for the injured, the official Xinhua News Agency said on Sunday. Seventy people were sent to a hospital, most with minor injuries. Noting a recent series of fatal accidents, Xi underscored the importance of strengthening safety at tourist attractions, large public venues and residential communities, as well as for the rush of people returning at the end of major holidays. CCTV said the capsized boats had a maximum capacity of about 40 people each and were not overloaded. An eyewitness told state-owned Beijing News the waters were deep but that some people had managed to swim to safety. However, the storm had come suddenly and a thick mist obscured the surface of the river. (AP)
NYC Mayor Eric Adams revealed on Monday that the city is allocating $1.6 million to roll out a new security measure for roughly 500 bodegas throughout New York City: emergency alert devices known as “SilentShields” that allow workers to discreetly notify the NYPD during a crisis.
The funding, issued through a special emergency grant, will go to the United Bodega Association. The initiative focuses on bodegas located in neighborhoods with higher crime rates, aiming to better protect employees and patrons from violence or theft.
Adams explained that the SilentShields system will be tied directly to surveillance cameras inside the bodegas and linked to NYPD networks. This setup will enable officers to view incidents as they occur and respond more swiftly to threats.
“Bodegas are part of the heart and soul of New York City. They are on every corner; they are there for us at all hours. As we continue rolling out our ‘Best Budget Ever,’ I’m proud to announce $1.6 million in funding to equip an estimated 500 bodegas across the five boroughs with ‘SilentShields’ that will immediately connect bodega staff with the NYPD in cases of emergency,” Adams said.
Calls for emergency buttons grew louder after a fatal stabbing inside an Inwood bodega last month left one person dead and injured two more. Just days ago, a shocking incident in Brooklyn saw a gang disguised in NYPD uniforms rob a bodega at gunpoint, with surveillance footage released by police.
“This program will bring peace of mind to our bodega owners, while protecting the working-class New Yorkers who work and frequent bodegas. Our bodegas are essential to New York City, and, with this investment, we’re telling these small businesses: Your city has your back,” he added.
{Matzav.com}
DISGUSTING: On their way to continue their protest over army conscription, Peleg Yerushalmi rioters desecrated pictures in memory of fallen IDF soldiers HY’D.
WATCH: The IDF strikes in Yemen are believed to be part of a coordinated operation with the United States, with Axios journalist Barak Ravid citing a senior U.S. official who said the assault was carried out “in concert” with American forces.
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